Top Hollywood Blockbusters You Dare Miss This Summer

Summer blockbuster season effectively kicks off in March in 2018, with the Warner Bros-backed big screen reboot of the Tomb Raider movie franchise out first. Alicia Vikander is taking on the role of Lara Croft in this one, with director Roar Uthaug plucked from his successful disaster movie, Bølgen, to make his English language directorial debut with this one.The movie is based on the popular gaming franchise of the same name.the star cast also includes Walton Goggins, Dominic West and Hannah John-Kamen

Guillermo del Toro’s ode to giant robots fighting giant monsters, Pacific Rim, was a commercial disappointment in the United States upon its arrival in 2013. But its ever-growing legion of hard-core fans must give their thanks to the people of China, who made it a global hit and ensured the existence of its Steven S. DeKnight–helmed sequel. Star Wars’ John Boyega enters the growing franchise as a young man who enters an ongoing global battle against towering extradimensional beasts. The roster includes some young and young faces like Scott Eastwood, Adria Arjona, Tian Jing. As a result, one can hope for a focus on ensemble storytelling in a piece of high-octane popcorn entertainment.

The pop cultural references — classic arcade games! Back to the Future! Pat Benatar! — pile up thick and fast in director Steven Spielberg’s effects-heavy adaptation of Ernest Cline’s sci-fi novel. The setting: a dystopian future teetering on the brink of environmental collapse where humankind has found refuge in a virtual reality simulator known as the OASIS, established by a billionaire tech visionary who has hidden several “Easter eggs” within the system and posthumously promising his vast fortune (and control over the corporation that runs the OASIS) to whoever uncovers them. Enter a teenage orphan Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), who ventures into this digital dreamland of comic book characters, old movies, and cheesy pop tunes in an attempt to own inner space. With Spielberg's name attached to the project, this has already become one of the most awaited movies of the year.Spielberg’s cast here includes Mark Rylance, Ben Mendelsohn (he’ll be doing a fair amount of press next March…), T J Miller, Simon Pegg, Olivia Cooke, Tye Sheridan and Hannah John-Kamen.

Dwayne Johnson traditionally has two or three movies out each summer, and 2018 ain’t bucking that trend. Firstly then, Rampage, based on the monsters-destroying-buildings video game of the 1980s. Given how thin the plot of the Rampage games was, it’s basically an excuse for Johnson and his San Andreas director Brad Peyton to wreak further havoc, and pretty much put together whatever plot they like to set it against. The supporting cast includes Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Malin Akerman. This will be another hit or miss kind of a movie, with all its weight falling on those big biceps of Dwayne "The Rock Johnson"

Releasing a week earlier before it's slated date, Few movies have seemed more destined to make a billion dollars than Avengers: Infinity War. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has shifted the foundation of modern Hollywood in the past decade, and ten years almost to the day since it launched with 2008’s Iron Man, it will deliver its most ambitious project yet: a film that unites every single protagonist introduced in its 17-picture run. That may seem like an impossible juggling act to pull off without bewildering an audience, but directors Joe and Anthony Russo and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely pulled off a similar trick in their previous jam-packed Marvel outing, Captain America: Civil War. With an ensemble star cast and over 64 characters this movie (As stated) is destined to make billion dollar mark, we just not know how fast.

The return of Deadpool is comfortably one of the most anticipated of 2018’s blockbuster releases, with Ryan Reynolds leading a cast that includes Morena Baccarin, Josh Brolin, T J Miller, Brianna Hildebrand and swearing. David Leith, co-director of John Wick, is helming this time, with Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick again on screenplay duties, with a bit of help from Drew Goddard. Expect cash and no shortage of it. The Ryan Reynolds–starring the first instalment, released in early 2016, became one of the more insanely profitable movies in recent history, generating $783 million off of a $58 million budget. Creative differences led to Deadpool director Tim Miller’s replacement in the sequel by Atomic Blonde director and former stuntman, David Leitch, meaning audiences will get to find out how much of the fart-scented magic of the original was due to its director and how much was due to Reynolds.

Fans of the episodic sci-fi serial are champing at the bit to see Alden Ehrenreich’s embodiment of a young Han Solo in this stand-alone installment — variously described as a “space Western” and a “gangster movie” — which is set prior to the events of 1977’s original Star Wars and plotted around the roguish galaxy-far-far-away smuggler’s pre-Rebellion adventures with Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian With another comfortable $1bn in the bank here, as directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller dig into the early life of Han Solo and Chewie, with Alden Ehrenreich stepping into Harrison Ford’s clobber. Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson and Donald Glover are in the supporting cast, and Jon & Lawrence Kasdan have penned the script. We suspect this won’t be the last we see of Ehrenreich as Solo, either…

Perhaps not the most expected franchise revival, but the bringing back of the Ocean’s capers may just prove a smart move from Warner Bros. Consider it a happy coincidence that the year after the men of Hollywood jumped the shark, we’ve got plenty of big, female-driven studio projects. The centrepiece is this highly anticipated reboot (how often are those words said together?) of Steven Soderbergh’s Oceans trilogy. Sandra Bullock leads the team as Danny Ocean’s sister Debbie, who gets out of prison and immediately begins planning a heist at the star-studded Met Ball. It’s a new crew this time joined by Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Dakota Fanning, Cate Blanchett, Katie Holmes, Helena Bonham-Carter, Richard Armitage, Rihanna and Mindy Kaling, with several surprise cameos lined up.

Brad Bird returns to animation – following Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Tomorrowland – with the eagerly, eagerly, eagerly, eagerly, eagerly awaited sequel to The Incredibles.Original writer-director Brad Bird returns for this sequel, which finds Elastigirl out saving the day while Mr Incredible tries being a stay-at-home dad.

Universal waited over a decade following Jurassic Park III to bring the fourth Jurassic Park film to the big screen. With director Colin Trevorrow at the helm, its patience was rewarded. Over $1.5bn was banked, and a further instalment was set up. With Trevorrow off making Star Wars: Episode IX, he’s handed directing duties to J A Bayona.
Cast-wise, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas-Howard lead the returnees, and it’s already been confirmed we’re getting James Cromwell and bonus Jeff Goldblum this time. Even considering the competition it’s up against, this may yet be the film to beat at the box office next summer – not least because not too much competition immediately follows it.

With Marvel Studio becoming a hit giving gold mine, We shouldn't expect any less from this 2015's Ant-man follow-up. Peyton Reed is back as director, with Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly headlining, in the sequel to 2015’s Ant-Man. Michael Douglas and Michael Pena are also confirmed to be back, with the story for this one coming from Rudd and Adam McKay. The story will be a follow up from Civil War, and the title refers not just to Evangeline Lilly’s Hope van Dyne (who’s got her own super suit now) but also her missing mother Janet, whom viewers will recall disappeared into the Quantum Realm. Considering Janet’s being played by Michelle Pfeiffer, I’m guessing she’s coming back.

No summer flick list is complete without a family targeted animated movie. And Hotel Transylvania provides exactly that for you. Adam Sandler isn’t writing this one, but leads the voice cast again, along with Selena Gomez and Andy Samberg. Genndy Tartakovsky, who toyed with handing the third film over to someone else, is back to direct. The last film grossed $478m worldwide. This one should break half a billion. It’s turning into one of the biggest, active animated movie franchises on the planet.

What's the meaning of cinema if there isn't some healthy competition. And this summer the two movies that are going head-on with each other are Hotel Transylvania and Dwayne Johnson's another action flick Skyscraper. Rawson Marshall Thurber, of We’re The Millers, Dodgeball and Central Intelligence vintage has written the script and will direct. So what is he doing this time? Defusing a hostage situation in a big tower block in China, in the role of a former FBI hostage rescue team leader. Is his family trapped in the building too? Yep. That’ll do.

Mission Impossible franchise has one of those love/hate kind of relationship with their viewers. While some instalments are loved by the audience whereas some are not, but one thing that remains common, that is its box office collection success. People love to hate seeing Tom Cruise perform elaborate stunts with a huge set and same old spy stories. Christopher McQuarrie becomes the first person to direct two Mission: Impossible films, following up the very successful Rogue Nation with the sixth screen adventure of Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. No Jeremy Renner this time (his Avengers schedule is keeping him busy elsewhere), but we do get Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Cavill, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames and Sean Harris. McQuarrie has also penned the screenplay. We’re promised a very big stunt again with this one.

Five words: Jason Statham Fighting A Giant Shark. I think this will be enough to attract you the cinema halls.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect the view of the website.
Viraj is currently pursuing Bachelor in Commerce from St. Aloysius College Jabalpur. Strong coffee, some sarcasm and binge-watching fuels his day.